Human nature

that's enough violence with my coffee

Human Beings, Yamaguchi Gen (1953)

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Dear friends,

I’ve decided to let my love for Bob’s poetry consume me for the next little while. So, for you that means a lot more poems—in fact a new Bob Hicok poem every morning in over these winter weeks. If you stay with me through this time, I can promise you a happier entrance into the New Year, in some small or large way.

With appreciation for your tolerance of my obsessions,

Karan

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Human nature

by Bob Hicok

You shouldn’t put a hand grenade in a microwave 
without a plate on top of it 
to keep shrapnel from splattering 
unless you like cleaning up war. 

Is that too much or not enough 
figurative excess per square inch 
to suggest I think war is dumber 
than taking the SAT with a flame thrower?

But that’s enough violence 
with my coffee, I need a puppy
licking the face of this poem 
and peeing out of happiness 
that humans exist, as if we invented food 
and chasing sticks. We invented horrible things 

such as foreclosures and Wagner 
but also cheeseburgers 
are nice and staring at the sun 
to see if it blinks first
or ever.

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